BURSA MALAYSIA HIGHER AT MIDDAY ON CHINA’S STIMULUS SUPPORT 

By Karina Imran

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 24 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia ended the morning session in positive territory, aligning with regional peers and bolstered by new stimulus measures from China, according to an analyst.

At 12.30 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) rose 3.30 points to 1,668.60 from Monday’s close of 1,665.30.  

The benchmark index opened 1.95 points higher at 1,667.25.

Market breadth was negative, with losers outpacing gainers by 568 to 429. There were 452 counters unchanged, 1,056 untraded and 19 suspended.

Turnover reached 2.11 billion units, valued at RM1.40 billion.

SPI Asset Management managing partner Stephen Innes said China's rate cuts and discussions of a support fund designed to boost stocks have uplifted regional markets.

Innes was referring to the People's Bank of China (PBoC) plan to reduce the reserve requirement ratio by 0.5 percentage points to provide approximately one trillion yuan (US$141.7 billion) in long-term liquidity to the financial market.

"However, the extent of this measure's impact on the economy remains the larger question.

"For today, markets are rallying, as these measures are perceived to be larger than expected, potentially encouraging banks to lend more and lowering mortgage rates to support the property sector," he told Bernama.

Among Bursa Malaysia’s heavyweights, Maybank gained four sen to RM10.74, and Tenaga Nasional added 22 sen to RM14.96.

Meanwhile, Public Bank and CIMB both edged down by two sen to RM4.68 and RM8.32, respectively, while IHH Healthcare slipped one sen to RM7.10.

In active trading, 99 Speed Mart Retail rose 15 sen to RM2.14, Globetronics Technology inched up one sen to 70 sen, Sin-Kung Logistics edged up half-a-sen to 18.5 sen, and APB Resources added 4.5 sen to 59.5 sen.

On the index board, the FBM Emas Index lost 6.87 points to 12,498.28, the FBMT 100 Index fell 3.80 points to 12,193.74, the FBM 70 Index dropped 109.72 points to 17,753.66, and the FBM ACE Index shed 19.44 points to 5,166.33.

However, the FBM Emas Shariah Index rose 3.56 points to 12,360.87.

By sector, the Industrial Products and Services Index edged down 0.49 of-a-point to 176.81, the Plantation Index increased by 19.46 points to 7,171.45, and the Energy Index gained 0.15 of-a-point to 871.40, while the Financial Services Index ticked up 2.42 points to 19,701.26.

-- BERNAMA